


The Perfect Gift.

by americanhoney913



Series: Julie and the Himbos [5]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Day 6 and 7 of JatP Appreciation Week, F/M, Gen, Happy Birthday Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), I love Reggie and Alex's friendship, M/M, Willie runs with wolves, alex is smitten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27520768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americanhoney913/pseuds/americanhoney913
Summary: Alex can't decide what to get Reggie for his birthday until he stumbles uponWild Spirit Rescue and Animal Shelter... and a real cute shelter worker.
Relationships: Alex & Flynn & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Pre-Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Series: Julie and the Himbos [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1959466
Comments: 10
Kudos: 182
Collections: JATP Appreciation Week





	The Perfect Gift.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from Karina on the JatF discord: What about a willex one where they meet when alex goes to the local shelter to adopt a puppy (its a gift for reggies birthday) and willie works there
> 
> And I couldn't help myself! So, here's this fic. I hope you enjoy.

For Reggie's 21st birthday, unlike Luke, he wants something other than a party with friends and free booze— consumed responsibly!— and Alex has no idea what to get him. Luke and Julie have decided on a joint present of a country song for Reggie. The blonde remembers how constipated Luke looked through the whole process, only brightening when his girlfriend kisses him and reassures him he's still her rock god or whatever. Alex knows it's time to jet when they start getting all sappy.

So he’s driving around, trying to think of a present, when he spots an animal shelter tucked a little off the main road. It looks more like a farm than a shelter, but the sign says _Wild Spirit Rescue_ _and Animal Shelter_ and there’s huge dog runs as Alex drives up. There’s a little bit of snow on the sign and tire tracks, ice crackling under his truck tires. Going to college in upstate New York gives Alex amazing views like this all the time and he smiles, resting his hands on the steering wheel.

It might not be the best idea because he didn’t talk to Luke or Reggie before his spontaneous idea, but it’s a surprise for Reggie and both Julie and Luke love dogs. He steps out of the car and hunches his shoulders against the chill in the air. It’s a warmer day than they’ve had in a while, with the sun shining through the clouds and no snow on the horizon, and maybe Reggie’s January birthday will be a good one. Not like the horrible snowstorm last year that trapped the boys, Flynn, and Julie inside their apartment for three days straight. Maybe an animal would have been good to have around before Alex tried to go for Reggie when the boy ate the last of his Oreos. Crazy times.

He walks up to the front building that says _Entrance_ and heads inside, knocking the snow from his boots on the paw print rug and looks around. There’s a front desk with a register that looks like it’s from the 90s and bags of dog food. On the walls are pictures of different dogs and maybe a dozen wolves, dog tags hanging under some of them. As if to commemorate the dog. Alex flicks one of the tags, trying not to be obnoxious. There’s no one in the room and he doesn’t want to bother anybody. He’s got time.

“Oh, hey,” a boy comes in from the only other door in the room. He’s wearing an open flannel with the name of the rescue on a shirt underneath and he's got spiky black hair. Looks to be about seventeen or eighteen. Freckles dust the bridge of his nose and under his eyes. “I saw your car.” His ears are covered by the floppy sides of a trapper hat. He takes it off and shoves it in his pocket, along with his gloves. “Name’s Conor.” Conor holds out his hand for Alex to shake, which he does with a smile.

“Oh, uh, Alex.” The blonde gives him a shy smile as he plays with the metal of one of the tags. It says _Akila_ on it and the animal in the picture looks more wolf than dog.

“So, what brings you by, Alex?” Conor asks as he does something behind the counter, making a bit of noise as he riffles through the space under it. “I didn’t know we had anyone scheduled today.”

“Oh, well, it’s, uh, it’s my friend’s birthday today and I didn’t really know what to get him?” 

It comes out as more of a question and Conor gives him a crooked smile, dimples showing. He grabs a clipboard and flips through the paper. “Well, if this is a spur of the moment decision, I’d recommend talking to your friend and whoever they live with before you actually get a dog.” Conor grabs a pen and puts it behind his ear, putting a roll of masking tape around his wrist like a bracelet. “It’s unfortunate, but a lot of the dogs we get here are Christmas or birthday presents that no one wants when they grow up. Cute puppies grow up, ya know?”

“Oh, yeah,” Alex chuckles nervously. “No, uh, Reggie’s been thinking about getting a dog for a while. He just, well, he’s been a little busy dealing with some school stuff. So I thought maybe this would be a good time. And he’s always going on and on about how important it is to rescue or adopt rather than buy.”

“That’s good, but—”

“I might not even get a dog today,” Alex interrupts, “but can I look around?” He smiles. “Maybe I’ll bring Reggie back here.”

“Okay.” Conor comes over to his side of the counter and heads towards the door. “The kennels are this way.” They head back out into the weak winter sunlight and around the main building. Once they get around it, Alex breaths out a _wow_. There’s a huge building in the back with outside runs coming out of the side with little doors leading inside for each dog. There are all different kinds. It’s like a huge barn, made out of concrete. There’s another one a little further away, a second building that's blue instead of the green the first kennel is painted. It’s further away so he can’t see the dogs in that one, but Conor leads him inside before he can ask.

The din inside is overwhelming. Dogs barking and the acoustics make them bounce around the room. There are three people inside-- one boy and two girls--working with the dogs.

“Willie, we’ve got a potential!” Conor shouts and the boy looks up. He slaps Willie on the back. “This is Alex.”

Alex freezes. _Shit_. He’s handsome, Alex thinks. With his long hair and his pretty brown eyes and, wow, maybe Alex needs to take a step back. “Oh.”

There’s a moment of intense eye contact and Alex feels like maybe he’s going to die when Conor speaks up. “Do you two wanna be alone or…?”

“Dude,” the other guy hisses, smacking Conor upside the head. His voice is softer when he speaks to Alex. “You come in for something or did you just see the sign and get curious?”

“Yes.” 

Willie chuckles and Conor tugs at his sleeve, getting his attention. “He wants to adopt a dog for his friend. Or look around and come back later."

"Oh, nice." Willie puts the bag of dog food he was carrying down and shoves a hand into his pocket. "Conor, could you finish doing Jazz's kennel? She's been having some digestion issues, so I got her some of this." He taps the bag with his foot. "She's fully transitioned so you can just give her a whole portion. Maybe it'll help."

Conor salutes Willie in the most sarcastic way possible and walks off, grabbing the bag on his way. It reminds Alex of when Luke calls Julie "boss" during their band practice. He might have started the band but Julie's 100% in charge. Flynn says it's because they don't have one brain cell to rub together between the three of them. Which, in Alex's opinion, is a little offensive. He's definitely smarter than the other boys… most of the time.

"So," Willie's voice interrupts his thoughts, "what kind of dog are you looking for?"

"Um, definitely a puppy," Alex says as he shoves his hands into his pockets. Willie grabs a leash with a loop on the end and slings it over his shoulder so that it hangs around his neck. "Breed doesn't matter. Just, you know, something that can keep up with Reggie."

Willie laughs loudly and Alex blushes. "Okay, so that doesn't give me much to work with." He begins walking and Alex follows, like he's Luke with Julie, and he kind of hates the comparison. "Because literally all puppies have tons of energy. So knowing a breed would help, but we also have some mixes, if you want to look at those."

"Sure." Alex bobs his head. "I'm sure Reggie will love them, whatever they look like. He's pretty good about that."

"He sounds awesome."

They stop at a row of kennels a little bit away from where the girls are working. There are a few dog breeds he can recognize, like bully breeds and hounds. There's a tiny white snowball Chihuahua in a run with a huge black dog. A pitbull lay against the fence, a few puppies of all sorts of breeds inside with her.

"That's Lila," Willie says when he notices Alex looking. "She's can't be rehomed because she's not comfortable around people she doesn't know, but she's a great foster mom. If we get young puppies, we put them in there with her."

“That’s cute. Are any of those puppies ready to go home yet?”

“No, they’re too young. Just came in a few days ago.” He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “They were found in a box on the side of the road. We think maybe a puppy mill, but we’re not sure. People are awful sometimes.” Wow, being a rescue shelter must suck, Alex thinks. Having to deal with dogs coming from shitty situations with all different types of temperaments.

“Well, what about—”

Alex is about to ask a question when something barrels into his leg and hooks on with tiny claws. He looks down to see warm chocolate eyes looking at him from a beautiful puppy dog face. He’s a super adorable German Shepard, with different markings than a usual pup.

“Pizza, come back,” one of the girls shouts. She’s a lithe redhead with pretty green eyes, covered in dog fur and splotches of water from a hose slowly leaking onto the concrete. She scrambles over and pulls the eager pup off Alex’s leg by his collar, getting a whine from the dog as he wiggles, straining to reach Alex.

Willie laughs and puts his arm on Alex’s shoulder, making the other boy jolt. His hand feels rough and warm even though the layers of clothes. “Looks like this little guy likes you.” He kneels down and Pizza sniffs at his hand, licks it after a second. “You might not have to pick for your friend after all.”

“He’s a German Shepard-Husky mix. A Shepsky,” the girl tells him as he follows Willie down to kneel next to the dog. She lets him go and he wiggles himself all the way back to Alex, tail thumping against his leg. He puts his paws on Alex’s legs and pushes his nose into his palm, licking at his hand.

“Why’s his name Pizza?” Alex asks as the dog in question looks up at him, tilts his head. God, this dog reminds him so much of Luke or Reggie when Julie or Flynn says something smart and they're confused. 

Willie's smile fades and he looks down, patting Pizza's side. “He was a stray wandering around Main Street. Must have lost his mom or been thrown out for being a runt. Eventually, we cornered him behind a pizza shop dumpster.” He taps his long fingers against the dog's ribcage. "He was so emaciated. And, when we got him checked, he had such bad heartworms. We were scared he wasn't gonna survive the treatment." He waves his hands and Alex chuckles. "Liv said if he came out the other side, we should name him Pizza. And, well, here we are." Pizza yips when he hears his name.

"That's so sad." Alex pulls Pizza to his chest and the little Shepsky licks his cheek and neck until he's definitely covered in dog slobber. "Well, I think I know the perfect home for him?"

"You sure?" Willie looks at him with a crooked smile on his face. Like he already knows the answer.

“Who could say no to this face?” Alex turns Pizza to look at Willie and squishes his face. Pizza sticks his tongue out and he looks Reggie-level ridiculous. It’s like a match made in doggie heaven.

“Alright, well, you’re gonna need to get all the food and bed and everything.” Willie stands up and dusts off his jeans. He holds out his hand and Alex grabs it. The blonde can feel all the callouses from working and Alex wonders if the other boy can feel his own from drumming. Once Alex stands up, Willie keeps a hold of his hand the blonde doesn’t want to let him go. It feels… nice? Alex hasn’t felt like this since his and Luke’s mutual break up between 11th and 12th grade. A mutual breakup with a fun jam sesh and gorging themselves on…

Pizza yips at his heels and Willie chuckles, the sound washing over Alex and making him shudder. He pulls the leash over his neck and loops it around Pizza’s neck. The pup struggles for a moment before he huffs and walks next to Alex, almost resigned to his fate.

“I'll let Reggie get all that stuff.” Alex snickers. “It’s probably gonna be the first thing he wants to do. Before he even eats cake, which would be weird for him because Reggie loves cake. Well, he loves food but--”

“Whoa, slow down there, hot dog,” Willie says and Alex freezes.

“What?”

“Well,” Willie scratches the back of his neck, “you’re, uh, you’re hot and, uh, I like dogs?”

Alex’s heart flutters. This guy thinks he’s hot. He, Alex King, resident ball of anxiety according to all his friends, is _hot_. And is associating him with something else he _loves._ The l-word! “Oh, um, nice.” His cheeks feel hot. The dog at Alex’s heels barks, breaking yet another long stare between the two of them.

“You wanna see something cool?” Willie asks as he turns around. He tugs at the edge of his hair. Alex nods. “Conor, Liv, Lola, I’m going to the wolf run!” Willie’s voice bounces around the room and the three shout back affirmatives.

“Wolf run?”

“Yeah, hot dog.” Willie exits the building and spins around so he’s walking backwards. “We’re not just a rescue for dogs.” Alex picks up Pizza and holds him like a football under one arm.

Willie walks up to one of the fences for the other building and opens the gate. Once it’s open a crack, he slips inside, cups his hands around his mouth, and howls. There’s a moment of quiet and a gentle snow flurry started while they were inside. But it’s all broken a second later as four huge beasts bound out of the kennel and straight into the fence, making it rattle. Alex watches with wide eyes as Willie goes down into the snow, almost crushed under the pile of writhing bodies.

Eventually, Willie's able to climb his way out of the pile and sits down next to the fence, panting. Alex watches as his chest rises and falls, his hair a chaotic mess. He turns to Alex with a huge smile.

"Meet the pack." He gestures to the dogs. No, wait, Alex realizes, they're not dogs but _wolves_. Big ass wolves. Bigger than Alex thought they'd be.

The white wolf jumps on him again, paws to his chest, and tries to lick into his mouth every time he talks. It's… kind of gross.

Willie pushes her away again and laughs as he gets to his feet. The wolf still comes up to his chest and she's trying to reach his face. "See, Kila, this is why my last boyfriend dumped me," he says as he pats her side, giving off a hearty thumping sound. "Because you were trying to stick your tongue down my throat."

Alex gags and wrinkles his nose. That doesn't sound pleasant. One of the smaller wolves is sniffing at the fence line, where Pizza stands with his two front paws on the fence. It's a small black wolf with a white mark on its throat that looks like a bird spreading its wings. He tries to nibble on the puppy's paw between the fence and grumbles. Alex picks up the pup and pulls him to his chest, even as he whines to be put down.

"Loki, we don't eat puppies!" Willie laughs as he shoves the smaller dog to the side. "Sorry about that. He's a wolfdog and is maybe a touch too curious for his own good." He pats Loki's head and Alex sees his tongue has some black spots on it.

"They're… bigger than I thought they'd be."

"Yeah," Willie nods as he attempts to push a smaller golden wolf off of him. "Apisi, stop. Yeah, we get that a lot when people come here. It's like a moose. You can never really understand how big they are until you get up close and personal." He throws his thumb over his shoulder at the pure white wolf. "And, in Akila's case, she takes the personal waaaay too far."

"Why did she do that?"

"Wolf hierarchy." He rubs yet another wolf, this one with russet fur that had stayed a little behind during the initial greeting. "A lot of these guys were brought in as pups and can't be released, usually for medical reasons. So I hand-raised 'em with my Pops." He smiles at Alex. "They see me as the alpha. Akila's like the second in command since she's been here the longest." Willie wipes his mouth off on his shirtsleeve and Alex might have thought it was attractive if he didn't know what had been in that mouth just a few minutes ago. "Wolves lick the inside of a leader or higher-up's mouth as both a sign of affection and submission. Akila's greeting me. If, for example, Tiva or Pongo," he gestures to the russet wolf and another wolf with a white coat and small patches of black, “did the same thing, it would be in submission. Because they’re the lowest in the pack.”

“Weird.” Alex chuckles. “That’s kinda like at our house? The hierarchy thing, I mean, not the licking inside the mouth thing… although Julie and Luke get _really_ into each other when they’re writing music. It’s weird.” When Willie laughs, he looks up and blushes. “Nevermind, sorry. Ignore me.”

“Can’t do that, hot dog,” Willie holds a tiny part of the fence open. “You wanna come say hi?”

“They won’t try to lick and-or kiss me, will they?” Alex asks as he adjusts Pizza in his arms.

“Scout’s honor, I’ll protect you,” Willie’s voice is right by his ear as Alex slips through the fence. He has to press extremely close to the other boy, close enough to feel his breath on the back of his neck, the warmth of his body heat through all the layers.

Alex shoots him a dubious look as the wolves begin to swarm around him. Pizza wiggles in his arms yet again, but the blonde is too scared the dogs will eat him if he puts him down. “Were you ever a Scout or is that just an empty promise?”

“Guess you’ll have to find out, hot dog.”

The bit of fence snaps shut behind him.

* * *

Alex plays with the receipt for a single bag of dog food from the rescue, the adoption papers shoved into his back pocket to give to Reggie. The receipt has Willie’s phone number, along with a pawprint stamp. He’d stayed with Willie and the wolves for probably half an hour, eventually letting Pizza go but keeping hold of the leash. Loki, the one who looked like he wanted to eat Pizza before, had bounced and played with the puppy, dodging in and out of the range of the wobbly puppy. It was cute and Alex has a few pictures and videos to show the new dog owner.

He can hear the tail ends of a song, Julie and Luke’s voices mixing together in perfect harmony on the final notes, as he slips into the house. He can feel the box under his other arm wiggle and whine as Pizza scratches at the side. He picked up the box from a pizza parlor on the way home, buying one that looks like a make-it-yourself pizza kit because he couldn’t fit the dog in a regular pizza box.

“Aw, you guys,” Reggie says in a sniffly, I-just-bawled, voice. The blonde rubs the receipt for good luck and brings his other hand to hold the box closed. Damn, Pizza’s almost as wiggly as Reggie. “That was amazing.”

“Hey,” Flynn wacks his shoulder, “Julie wrote _me_ a song first. So, technically, it’s from all three of us.”

“Uh, we can write more than one best friend song,” Julie argues as she grabs the pick from Luke’s mouth and flicks it at her friend’s head.

“Hey, that was my lucky pick!”

“Luke, you’ve got a whole pack in our room. Stop being a baby.”

Alex chooses that moment to make his presence known. He walks in to see Reggie laying with his head in Flynn’s lap, tugging at one of her braids. Julie and Luke are at their instruments in the corner. Julie’s keyboard and Luke’s acoustic. Everything else they keep in the garage. All their official band stuff is in there.

“Oh, hey!” Reggie jumps up and Flynn grunts when he accidentally elbows her in the stomach. “You just missed Juke’s song for me.”

“Reg, what have I told you about that name,” Luke says. “Julie and I are individuals first, a couple second.”

Alex points at him with a finger without pulling his hands away from the box. “Uh, not true. You refer to yourself as Juke whenever Julie’s not in the room.”

“Not important, dude!” Luke’s face goes red, the tips of his ears the same color as a tomato. Flynn and Reggie hi-five while Julie presses a soft kiss to Luke’s cheek. He smiles at her and laughs a little bit.

“Anyway…” Alex pushes the box at Reggie. It’s taped shut, but there are holes in the top. “Happy birthday, buddy.”

“OOOOOOOO. A make-your-own pizza kit!” He beams at Alex. “You know how much I love pizza.” There’s a yip from the box and the whole room freezes. “Alex?”

“Surprise?” It comes out weak and more of a question, but Reggie’s already putting the box on the floor and peeling off the tape. He opens the box and his eyes go wide. Wrapped in a pizza-shaped fuzzy blanket Alex picked up at a Walmart before he drove home, is Pizza. His head’s tilted to the side, tail wagging back and forth.

“OHMIGOD!” Reggie shouts and Pizza ducks back under the blanket. “I’m sorry,” he whispers to the puppy and he lays down on his stomach. Pizza pokes his head out again and licks Reggie’s nose. “Best. Present. Ever.”

“Oh, yeah,” Flynn whispers from the couch, “best present ever.”

“I can’t believe you showed us up like that,” Luke grumbles goodnaturedly, elbowing Alex in the ribs. The girls have joined Reggie on the floor. He’s pulled the blanket out, spreading it on the floor with a grin when he sees what it is, and tilts the box so that Pizza can walk out by himself. Alex remembers Reggie’s parents never let him have a pet and getting him a dog seems perfect now. He’s been emancipated since he was fifteen, like Alex, and the two of them could never really afford anything. But with the money from gigs and getting amazing scholarships, along with being New York residents, the two of them could afford to go to a SUNY school upstate. Luke, their friend and bandmate, added his girlfriend Julie to their band and everything just took off from there.

Now there’s a sixth member of their household— Flynn doesn’t live here but she’s here with Reggie enough to be considered an occupant— and he seems to be getting all the attention.

“Does he have a name?” Reggie asks, his eyes sparkling with excitement as the dog wiggles into his lap and licks his hand. “Or can I name him?”

“His name’s Pizza, actually,” Alex says. “I got him from a rescue. He’s a German Shepard-Husky mix. Willie called him a Shepsky.”

“Awww, I love Pizza.” He chuckles, rubbing his cheek against the dog’s. “The food and my new best friend.”

“Hey!” Flynn slaps his shoulder and he smiles, leaning over the dog to kiss her on the cheek. Alex laughs loudly when Pizza jumps up and licks them both, like the wolves did with Willie. “I thought I was your best friend.”

“You’re my, uh, something else.” Reggie’s cheeks go as red as Luke’s ears and, since he’s pale, the rosacea marks there stand out when he blushes. Flynn and Reggie have been hovering on the cusp of something ever since the two were introduced by Julie and Luke. Flynn, on the second day of knowing Alex and Reggie, told Reggie he was her _emotional support human_ and he’d readily agreed. It’s been really annoying to watch them dance around each other— Reggie can’t dance and is a horrible flirt— but it’s better than watching the Juke show.

“So, ignoring the awakeness there,” Luke makes a vague motion at the cute scene on the floor and turns to Alex, “who’s Willie?”

“Oh, uh…” Why are all the boys in this house so susceptible to blushing? It’s really not fair how Julie and Flynn can keep their cool most of the time. “He’s, um, well, he runs the dog rescue. With his friends.”

“Ooooo,” Luke wiggles his eyebrows at him, “is he cute?” He squishes up his face like a fish. “Is he as cute as me?”

Alex’s stomach flip flops as he thinks of Willie. A wild boy with long hair and kind eyes, with a pack of wolves and the kindest heart Alex’s ever met outside his friend group.

“He’s… he’s a _something_.” The blonde doesn’t really have the words to explain it and can feel the anxiety bubbling up in his throat. He wants to go back to the rescue, promised Willie he would, but describing that feeling to Luke is… 

“I’m happy for you, Alex,” Luke says gently and slings an arm over the blonde’s shoulder. Alex exhales and wraps his own hand around Luke’s hip, shoves his hand into his best friend’s back pocket. They turn back to the scene just in time to see Reggie roll over, followed by Pizza doing the same trick. Julie and Flynn _aww_ as they lean against the couch, just watching boy and dog play with each other. “And you did have the best present.”

“Reggie’s brought us so much, man. I think he deserves this.”

“Yeah,” Luke nods, “he does.”

Pizza licks Reggie’s nose and his giggle makes the whole room light up with warmth and love and everything Reggie brings them. 

**Author's Note:**

> This was fun to write and Pizza is my new favorite doggo.
> 
> Liv, Lola, and Conor are all different characters played by the Descendants cast. Every time I have Willie have friends, they're gonna show up. Them's the rules... for me at least.
> 
> Pizza:   
> 


End file.
